Neoplastic Brain, Glioblastoma, and Immunotherapy

IGF-I, insulin-like growth factor 1, is present in normal fetal/neonatal brain development and reappears in the mature brain participating in the development of malignant tumor, glioblastoma multiforme. Targeting the IGF-I system has emerged as a useful method to reduce glial malignant development. Downregulation in the expression of IGF-I using antigene anti-IGF-I technology (antisense, AS, and triple helix, TH) applied in glioma cell culture established from glioblastoma biopsies induces the expression of B7 and MHC-I antigens in transfected cells (immunogenicity). The transfected cancer cells, “vaccines,” after subcutaneous injection, initiated an immune response mediated by T CD8+ lymphocytes, followed by tumor regression (immunotherapy). The median survival of patients treated by surgery followed by radiotherapy and immunotherapy was 21–24 months. On the other side, the experimental work has demonstrated that IGF-I AS or TH transfected tumor cells fused with activated dendritic cells, DC, showing more striking immunogenic character. Using IGF-I TH/DC “vaccination,” the efficiency in suppressing rat glioma tumors is not only relatively higher than that obtained using IGF-I TH cells but is also more rapid.